"To bend the tree or fill the sail is nothing. Knowledge only, not knowing. A bird knows the air without knowledge" (Wharton 11).
Summary:
This novel is about two friends, Al and Birdy, and their pursuit to understanding what everything is about. This novel is about friendship, love, war, beauty, insanity, dreaming, and obsession. The story takes place for the most part in Philadelphia. Each chapter is narrated either by Birdy or Al. Al is the tough, average boy who's mostly interested in sports and girls. His father would beat on him and he wants to become strong enough to take him on. Birdy is the weird, persistent genius who is obsessed with flying and birds, hence the nickname "Birdy." The beginning of the story takes place in a mental institution where Birdy has been placed after the war. Al was sent there from a hospital where he'd been taken care of to talk to Birdy, because they thought that he could bring Birdy to his senses. Birdy would sit in the middle of his room squatting like a bird, eating like a bird, looking around like a bird, and basically mimicking a bird. Throughout this novel, stories from the past are told from Al's perspective and then from Birdy as they both reflect on their childhood. Birdy and Al had a loft built where they stored pigeons. However, when Birdy's mother made him take it down, he found a new bird that he was obsessed with; canaries. Most of the stories from Birdy's persective are about his canary collection and his obsession with them. It's clear that Birdy is disgusted with humans and his main wish is to be a bird himself. Everyday after school, he would run home and watch them through his binoculars. It came to the point where Birdy started having dreams that he was a bird and this mixed reality was more real to him then when he was awake. "I don't know how long I was dreaming the dream before I began to know. It's hard to know you're dreaming unless you catch youself doing it" (Wharton, 200). Al's perspective basically tells stories of Birdy's obsession and how it's been there throughout their friendship. From raising pigeons and canaries, dog-catching jobs, and eventually enlisting into the army, Al and Birdy have always been there for each other. The army had seperated them and changed them both forever. Al's mentality had been centered around fighting, but he quickly realizes that he's not as brave as he thinks. Obviously Birdy ended up in the mental institution. Towards the end of the novel, Al actually gets Birdy to start acting 'human' again.
canaries
"It's really you, Birdy. You're OK?"
"Well, Al, I'm not OK, but it's me."
"How about all the bird shit, then? Don't tell me you've been pretending all this time. If you've been sitting here listening and laughing, i'll kill you barehanded!"
"That's right, Al. I was pretending. I pretended I was a bird; now I'm pretending I'm me. I figured it out while you were talking. I think I'm me now. That's not completely true either. I don't know who I am, but I'm not a bird" (Wharton 299).
They realize that they took a bit too long to grow up and that now they have been conformed to society. When Birdy decides to speak, him and Al talk about their flaws and how it's going to be hard for him to get out of the institution.
"I know I can't fly and I don't even want to anymore. You know you can't chew nails and spit tacks; but so what. We can still go on trying to put things together, shifting, arranging, so things come out right" (Wharton 301).
An Outstanding Novel..
Birdy is an outstanding novel for the strangest of reasons. There almost wasn't a plot, but this worked for the novel. I wanted to keep reading it so I could figure it out, but it didn't make sense until the end. I was always interested in the stories that were narrated because it helped to understand the characters. Understanding the characters and what they represent are what makes this novel so unique. It really makes you question how things are. I found myself asking, "What makes someone sane?" An open mind is important in being able to enjoy this novel. An outstanding feature of this novel is that you don't realize how psychological it is until you're finished reading it. Inbetween the wide uses of profanity and random stories, there is a certain message of wisdom. The author was very good at utilizing poetic sentences that apply to everyone, not just the characters. "I think I'm trying to say is, we really are loons. We're crazy because we can't accept the idea that things happen for no reason at all and that it doesn't mean anything. We can't see life as just a row of hurdles we have to get over somehow. It looks to me as if everybody who isn't crazy just keeps hacking away to get through. They live it out day by day because each day is there and then when they run out of days they close their eyes and call themselves dead" (Wharton 301). The characters are exaggerated and symbolize the stereotypes of society. I'll admit that there are some parts when the novel gets repetitive, but this gives the reader a very detailed understanding. This novel was probably placed on the Outstanding Books for the College Bound list because there are some deep thoughts throughout it that can be kind of difficult to understand. The reader must be able to analyze and sort out the text to fully understand the point of the novel.
I would recommend this novel..
I'd only recommend this novel to a certain type of reader; a reader who is capable of accepting anything out of the ordinary. It's easy to say that this novel is unlike any I have ever read. I recommend this book to the reader who is looking for something unique and complex in its simplicity. This is a novel that the reader will always remember because of its strangeness. It's also really interesting because of the two-part narrative. Birdy is a truly original novel that if read upon with openness, will subtly inspire its readers.
About the author:
William Wharton is the pen name of Albert Du Aime. He is best known for Birdy, which was also his first novel. He was born in
William Wharton
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which just so happens to be the setting of Birdy. He attended Upper Darby High School in 1943. Wharton fought in World War II , where he was part of the Army Specialized Training program. He was trained as a painter at the University of California and worked as an artist for 25 years until he wrote Birdy. Many of the protagonists in the books that he writes all tend to be very similar. This shows that they may be partly autobiographical. Wharton has written 10 novels and three of them have been turned into movies; Birdy, Dad, and A Midnight Clear. Wharton left the U.S. in 1959 and lives on a houseboat on the Seine outside of Paris.
Trailer of Birdy movie
Quotes about the novel:
"Creates a different Brand of Sanity...beautifully written."
-Los Angeles Times
"Deeply affecting and absorbing...Like Birdy in his dreams, this novel takes flight with an intensity that is often awesome."
-Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Beautifully crafted...credible and engrossing...an uncommonly good novel."
-Doris Grumbach, Washington Post
"A marvel...The passion simply overwhelms...It's Catcher in the Rye plus Wind in the Willows, but also authentically new, original, vividly imaginied from the inside. Its magic is not only in the re-creation of adolescent passion but more tellingly in the rekindling of desire before it is humbled by limits, before savvy conquers ardor and makes us merely mortal."
-Eliot Fremont-Smith, Village Voice
"A stunning psychological novel...astonishingly original...tantilizing."
-Philadelphia Inquirer
Birdy: By William Wharton
"To bend the tree or fill the sail is nothing. Knowledge only, not knowing. A bird knows the air without knowledge" (Wharton 11).
Summary:
This novel is about two friends, Al and Birdy, and their pursuit to understanding what everything is about. This novel is about friendship, love, war, beauty, insanity, dreaming, and obsession. The story takes place for the most part in Philadelphia. Each chapter is narrated either by Birdy or Al. Al is the tough, average boy who's mostly interested in sports and girls. His father would beat on him and he wants to become strong enough to take him on. Birdy is the weird, persistent genius who is obsessed with flying and birds, hence the nickname "Birdy." The beginning of the story takes place in a mental institution where Birdy has been placed after the war. Al was sent there from a hospital where he'd been taken care of to talk to Birdy, because they thought that he could bring Birdy to his senses. Birdy would sit in the middle of his room squatting like a bird, eating like a bird, looking around like a bird, and basically mimicking a bird. Throughout this novel, stories from the past are told from Al's perspective and then from Birdy as they both reflect on their childhood. Birdy and Al had a loft built where they stored pigeons. However, when Birdy's mother made him take it down, he found a new bird that he was obsessed with; canaries. Most of the stories from Birdy's persective are about his canary collection and his obsession with them. It's clear that Birdy is disgusted with humans and his main wish is to be a bird himself. Everyday after school, he would run home and watch them through his binoculars. It came to the point where Birdy started having dreams that he was a bird and this mixed reality was more real to him then when he was awake. "I don't know how long I was dreaming the dream before I began to know. It's hard to know you're dreaming unless you catch youself doing it" (Wharton, 200). Al's perspective basically tells stories of Birdy's obsession and how it's been there throughout their friendship. From raising pigeons and canaries, dog-catching jobs, and eventually enlisting into the army, Al and Birdy have always been there for each other. The army had seperated them and changed them both forever. Al's mentality had been centered around fighting, but he quickly realizes that he's not as brave as he thinks. Obviously Birdy ended up in the mental institution. Towards the end of the novel, Al actually gets Birdy to start acting 'human' again.
"It's really you, Birdy. You're OK?"
"Well, Al, I'm not OK, but it's me."
"How about all the bird shit, then? Don't tell me you've been pretending all this time. If you've been sitting here listening and laughing, i'll kill you barehanded!"
"That's right, Al. I was pretending. I pretended I was a bird; now I'm pretending I'm me. I figured it out while you were talking. I think I'm me now. That's not completely true either. I don't know who I am, but I'm not a bird" (Wharton 299).
They realize that they took a bit too long to grow up and that now they have been conformed to society. When Birdy decides to speak, him and Al talk about their flaws and how it's going to be hard for him to get out of the institution.
"I know I can't fly and I don't even want to anymore. You know you can't chew nails and spit tacks; but so what. We can still go on trying to put things together, shifting, arranging, so things come out right" (Wharton 301).
An Outstanding Novel..
Birdy is an outstanding novel for the strangest of reasons. There almost wasn't a plot, but this worked for the novel. I wanted to keep reading it so I could figure it out, but it didn't make sense until the end. I was always interested in the stories that were narrated because it helped to understand the characters. Understanding the characters and what they represent are what makes this novel so unique. It really makes you question how things are. I found myself asking, "What makes someone sane?" An open mind is important in being able to enjoy this novel. An outstanding feature of this novel is that you don't realize how psychological it is until you're finished reading it. Inbetween the wide uses of profanity and random stories, there is a certain message of wisdom. The author was very good at utilizing poetic sentences that apply to everyone, not just the characters. "I think I'm trying to say is, we really are loons. We're crazy because we can't accept the idea that things happen for no reason at all and that it doesn't mean anything. We can't see life as just a row of hurdles we have to get over somehow. It looks to me as if everybody who isn't crazy just keeps hacking away to get through. They live it out day by day because each day is there and then when they run out of days they close their eyes and call themselves dead" (Wharton 301). The characters are exaggerated and symbolize the stereotypes of society. I'll admit that there are some parts when the novel gets repetitive, but this gives the reader a very detailed understanding. This novel was probably placed on the Outstanding Books for the College Bound list because there are some deep thoughts throughout it that can be kind of difficult to understand. The reader must be able to analyze and sort out the text to fully understand the point of the novel.I would recommend this novel..
I'd only recommend this novel to a certain type of reader; a reader who is capable of accepting anything out of the ordinary. It's easy to say that this novel is unlike any I have ever read. I recommend this book to the reader who is looking for something unique and complex in its simplicity. This is a novel that the reader will always remember because of its strangeness. It's also really interesting because of the two-part narrative. Birdy is a truly original novel that if read upon with openness, will subtly inspire its readers.About the author:
William Wharton is the pen name of Albert Du Aime. He is best known for Birdy, which was also his first novel. He was born in
Trailer of Birdy movie
Quotes about the novel:
"Creates a different Brand of Sanity...beautifully written."
-Los Angeles Times
"Deeply affecting and absorbing...Like Birdy in his dreams, this novel takes flight with an intensity that is often awesome."
-Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Beautifully crafted...credible and engrossing...an uncommonly good novel."
-Doris Grumbach, Washington Post
"A marvel...The passion simply overwhelms...It's Catcher in the Rye plus Wind in the Willows, but also authentically new, original, vividly imaginied from the inside. Its magic is not only in the re-creation of adolescent passion but more tellingly in the rekindling of desire before it is humbled by limits, before savvy conquers ardor and makes us merely mortal."
-Eliot Fremont-Smith, Village Voice
"A stunning psychological novel...astonishingly original...tantilizing."
-Philadelphia Inquirer
Works Cited
"William Wharton." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Mar. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/bps/topic/641482/William-Wharton>
Wharton, William. Birdy. New York: Vintage Books, 1978.
"Birdy Trailer." Youtube. 3 July 2007. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTJBDNATcDw&feature=related>
"William Wharton." Wikipedia. 9 Feb 2008. <http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/william_wharton_(author)>
Russell, Marie Miley. "Feeding your Canary." Happy Home Aviary. 3 March 2008. <http://www.americansingercanary.com/feeding.htm>